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Spencerport Bowl still a family affair - 55 years later

From the archive: FBrothers John Progno, left, and Mike Progno, right, stand inside their Spencerport Bowl Tuesday, July 6, 2010 in Spencerport. The popular bowling alley has been in the Progno family for decades.(Photo: SHAWN DOWD staff photographer)Buy Photo

Nick Tantalo’s career in the bowling business got its start when he was a GI playing pool in the Philippines.

While serving overseas during WWII, Tantalo developed such a penchant for billiards that when he returned to Rochester he began building and selling pool tables.

At the time, billiards and bowling went hand in hand so Tantalo expanded his wares and opened Rochester Bowling Supply on Lyell Avenue.

Not long after Tantalo set up shop, he earned a contract with American Machine and Foundry (AMF) to install wooden lanes at bowling centers along the East Coast.

“You had to be pretty talented to do that because it’s a lot of work and they had to be level and everything,” grandson Mike Progno Jr. said.

One of the bowling alleys Tantalo was charged with outfitting was located in Lockport. Every day as he commuted to the job site along Lyell Avenue, he passed through the village of Spencerport.

Enamored with the quaint, rural area, Tantalo decided to buy a farm on Route 31 for the horse racing business he was in the nascent stages of developing. He then purchased another lot along the thoroughfare to build his own bowling center.

Tantalo decided to give his son-in-law the responsibility of running the alley. Michael Progno Sr. was only 20 at the time, but had been accompanying Tantalo on his lane installation jobs for years.

Spencerport Bowl opened in 1962, when the sport was still a national pastime.

“Back in the '60s, bowling was huge,” Mike Progno Jr. said, “I think Rochester was one of the top areas in the country … it seemed like everyone bowled.”

The center kept busy with “housewife leagues” during the day, company leagues at night and families on the weekends.

Though business remained steady through the 1970s, Nick Tantalo decided to lease Spencerport Bowl in 1976 in order to focus on his horse-racing venture.

Management of the facility returned to the family in the early 1990s when brothers Mike, John and Nick Progno joined forces to carry on their grandfather’s company.

“We had always wanted it,” Mike Progno Jr. said, “and we were old enough at that time to do it.”

Unfortunately, the establishment was a little run down when the Progno brothers took it over. The family has spent the past two decades working on restoring the center to its former glory.

While bowling is undoubtedly less popular now than it was when Spencerport Bowl first opened 55 years ago, Mike Progno Jr. is heartened by the fact that the sport is starting to see something of a revival among high school and college students.

He also sees bowling as an activity that is especially conducive to family bonding.

Progno and his brothers still co-run the business and other relatives pitch in in a variety of capacities. Mike’s mother is a frequent presence at the center, his father still lends a hand fixing machines and his wife tends bar.

Members of the family’s fourth generation have already expressed interest in one day taking over the business, ensuring that Spencerport Bowl will remain a family affair for years to come.

Family businesses

Small, family-run businesses are big contributors to our region’s economy — and identity. Meet some of the families who put their hearts and souls (and a lot of their time) into serving the community at restaurants, shops and more.